Discover Germany | Design | Zooloose & Wood & Luxury
Urbanism and authenticity
– a perfect combination
TEXT: SILKE HENKELE I PHOTOS: ESTHER PETSCHE
When it comes to fashion, customers are spoilt for choice from a seemingly endless selection of types and brands of clothing that can leave you clueless of which piece to buy or trend to follow. Fashion stores like Swiss-based Zooloose can help. Fashion enthusiast Matthias Weber first opened Zooloose in Basle in 1994, at the height of the craze for sportswear. “Back in the middle of the 1990s, Matthias’ store concept was a huge innovation that was eagerly embraced by our clients,” says Meret Renggli, head of marketing at Zooloose. “In 2013, Zooloose opened a second shop in Basel (Zooloose MARKET), followed by another store in Zurich,” says Renggli, outlining Zooloose’s successful story. Zooloose takes great care to stock an exclusive choice of brands like Nudie Jeans, NN07, or Red Wing. “Zooloose most definitely does not follow mainstream trends. While we of course take great care to always stock fashion that reflects the pulse of times, we are
following a strictly selective approach. This means that we consciously choose more and more fair trade brands, while we also take care to only order small numbers, thus guaranteeing our customers exclusivity that cannot be granted by big fashion chains,” says Renggli, explaining the careful selection of their items on offer. Although the internet renders the fashion market highly competitive, Zooloose by way of competence and focus on authentic instead of commercial brands, continues to maintain its rightfully uncontested place in the market. www.zooloose.ch www.zooloose.ch/welcome-shop (for online orders)
The natural beauty of fruitwood Since 1992, Basel-based Wood & Luxury has been designing and creating highquality furniture and accessories. TEXT: NADINE CARSTENS I PHOTOS: RENÉ RICKLI
Small pieces of art that are highly functional and made of the most beautiful types of wood – this is how Stefan Senn describes products by Wood & Luxury. The interior designer and founder of the Swiss company offers unique, timeless pieces such as a luxurious bathtub in Japanese style, a classy whisky cabinet, noble tables, and useful accessories. All of these pieces stand out due to their clean and harmonious design. “We are fans of solid wood of fruit trees, which are one of Switzerland’s few resources,” Senn says. “There are about two million fruit trees left here. 75 per cent of them are very old and should be put to good use.” Senn wants to make these rare pieces available to his customers, while also taking care of sustainability. There12 | Issue 51 | June 2017
fore, the company has already planted about 500 trees as a replacement. In Switzerland, Senn’s products, which are manufactured by experienced wood craftsmen, were already known under the name of WohnGeist. “Since there was an increasing demand among customers from other countries, we decided to addi-
tionally sell our products under an English name,” says Senn. One of Wood & Luxury’s latest creations is the Swiss Essential Box that provides essential tools for working the household or when you are en route. In autumn, the company will also introduce a Swiss Picnic Set including a leather case with a cutting board, a pocket knife, cutlery, as well as salt and pepper mills. www.woodandluxury.swiss www.wohngeist.ch
The Swiss Essential Box.
Stefan Senn, founder of Wood & Luxury.